July 18, 1880 Tsunami: E. Luzon Island, Philippines
A tsunami caused by a magnitude 7.5 earthquake and a landslide began at E. Luzon Island, Philippines on July 18, 1880 at 04:40 UTC. Its effects were recorded at 3 places. It killed 20 people, counting the earthquake or eruption that caused it.
Where the waves reached
The source (white) and every runup with a place, colored by the water height recorded there. A ring is a runup NCEI marks doubtful.
- Under 1 m
- 1 to 3 m
- 3 to 10 m
- 10 to 30 m
- 30 m and more
- Height not recorded
Travel times
How long the first wave took to reach each part of the ocean, one line for each hour up to 24, estimated from the source and the depth of the sea.
The travel times are computed in your browser, which needs JavaScript.
- 1 to 4 hours
- 5 to 6 hours
- 7 to 14 hours
- 15 hours and more
Computed in your browser the way NOAA’s own travel time maps are: the wave travels at the square root of gravity times the depth, over NOAA’s ETOPO1 depths averaged to a 10 arc-minute grid. Checked against NOAA NCEI’s maps for 21 tsunamis over the first 24 hours, these lines fall within 10 minutes of NCEI’s at half the points compared and within 52 minutes at 9 in 10. They give when the first wave could arrive, not how high it is; bays, harbors and island chains finer than the grid can see it later. Not for use in a warning: see tsunami.gov.
The tsunami
- Date
- July 18, 1880, 04:40 UTC
- Source
- E. Luzon Island, Philippines
- Cause
- Earthquake and landslide
- Earthquake
- Magnitude 7.5, 100 km deep
- Runups recorded
- 3
- Tsunami intensity (Soloviev-Imamura)
- 0
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Definite tsunami
- Source location
- 16.000° N, 121.850° E
The toll
- Deaths
- 20 with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Injuries
- 50 with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Damage
- Severe (about $5 to $25 million) with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Houses destroyed
- Many (101 to 1,000) with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
Where the literature gives no number, NCEI records a description on a scale of 1 to 4, printed here in its words. Damage is in millions of US dollars of the year of the event, not adjusted for inflation.
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
Reference #414:
1880, July 18, 12:40 [local time], 15 N, 121.5 E. There was a destructive earthquake with source near the Pacific coast of the central part of Luzon Island... Several small boats, situated in the estuary near Polo Pier, were tossed by surging water into mango groves on shore and were left there after the water had returned to its usual mark.
In Manila, rumors (possibly exaggerated) circulated from residents of the Pacific coast about an enormous number of boats tossed onshore to a great height and the death of hundreds of people... The water in the rivers became dirty and continually agitated and this lasted at least a day.
Reference #1072:
Within the epicentral region of the three [July 14-20, 1880] preceding earthquakes which measures 200 km from east to west, severe damage was done to the principal stone buildings, such as churches, conventos, court-houses, schools and a few private houses, of 112 of the principal towns. In the city of Manila some 30 public buildings (administration buildings, barracks, churches, monasteries, an colleges) and about 200 private houses of strong materials were either wrecked or badly damaged. Fortunately the number of victims was not in proportion to the magnitude of the disaster, neither in Manila nor in the provinces. From the various reports published at the time we conclude that the number of killed did not exceed 20, nor that of the injured 50.
Reference #1187:
1880, July 18, 12:40 p.m. Baler, Principe - a terrible shock... Continuous disturbance of muddy waters of the rivers.
Reference #3029:
1880, July 18. The intervals then became longer until 4:00 a.m. today, when the mail ought to leave, after a night of alarm at the shocks of varying intensity, with no further incident except the continuous disturbance of the
muddy waters of the rivers since the first movement yesterday. The same event was experienced in Casiguran where the altars of the church were damaged. Baler, Principe, July 19, 1880." GM, Aug. 6, 1880.
Every runup
Nearest the source first. Heights are above sea level at the time; a tide gauge reads half the wave’s full height.
| Where | Country | Km from source | Water height, m | Inland, m | Measured by | First wave, UTC | Deaths |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baler, Luzon Island | Philippines | 41 | Eyewitness observation of water height | ||||
| Real | Philippines | 151 | Eyewitness observation of water height | ||||
| Manila doubtful | Philippines | 180 | Eyewitness observation of water height |
More
Every tsunami in 1880The 1800sTsunamis of PhilippinesThe earthquakeThis day in weather historyAlerts in force
Sources
Tsunami events and runups from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, Global Historical Hazard Database, cited as NCEI/WDS, doi:10.7289/V5PN93H7. Public domain. Read 2026-09-24. NCEI tsunami event 1117.